


a house in ruin

by Jules1398



Category: SKAM (Norway)
Genre: But not that scary, Forests, High School, Horror, M/M, Monsters, Mystery, Time - Freeform, skam international secret monster
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-08-17 04:16:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16509209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jules1398/pseuds/Jules1398
Summary: For as long as Isak remembered, the trees in his town had howled at night.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Twinklylightseverywhere](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twinklylightseverywhere/gifts).



> NOAH!!!!!  
> okay so first of all when i signed up i was literally like "hmmm i'm gonna get noah" and guess what I DID. fsdajklfdskjl. despite all my complaining i really enjoyed writing this (am enjoying more like) and I really hope you like it bro!  
> second, this fic is embarrassingly enough based on a game from one of those choose your own adventure apps but it's GOOD playchoices snapped! it's called it lives in the woods and i've changed some stuff and cut a lot of the side plots because it would be unbearably long with them lmao  
> third obviously i'm posting three chapters now. i also have the epilogue done. i have 2-3 more to write but i will do it as fast as i can i just gotta figure out the pacing and sit down and do it but it might not be done immediately bc school die  
> fourth i love you so much and i hope you had a spooktastic halloween and i can't wait to meet you next month in oslo! <3

For as long as Isak remembered, the trees in his town had howled at night, louder than he had ever heard anywhere else. Of course, his house was on the edge of the woods. The edge of those terrible, terrible woods.

He was lying in bed around three in the morning, desperately willing for the trees to quiet so he could get some fucking shut eye and his phone started buzzing.

He groaned and grabbed it off the nightstand, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes before reading the message. It was from Magnus. Magnus who he hadn’t spoken with in ages.

 

_ Magnus (3:04) _

_ Hey, are you there? It’s Magnus _

_ I messed up. I’m so sorry… _

 

What the fuck? They hadn’t spoken in ages. What could Magnus have messed up for him? Maybe the text had been meant for Chris. They still talked probably, if Isak remembered correctly. Or maybe it was Vilde that he was still on speaking terms with.

_ Isak (3:07) _

_ Magnus? I haven’t talked to you in forever, bro. Are you okay? What happened? _

_ Do you need me to call somebody? _

 

_ Magnus (3:07) _

_ I went back into the woods. _

 

Isak’s heart stopped for a moment. Why the hell would Magnus go in the woods? Ever since it happened, they had avoided the forest even more than they had avoided each other. Fuck shortcuts, the woods were full of bad memories.

And maybe Isak was still a little bit afraid.

 

_ Magnus (3:08) _

_ I had to be sure. I had to prove to myself that this shit wasn’t just all in my head. _

_ I wasn’t, Isak. It’s all real. HE’S real. _

 

This wasn’t something Isak wanted to think about. The past was in the past. All they could do was try to forget it and move on. If Magnus was digging back into this, he must be fucked up or something.

 

_ Isak (3:09) _

_ Bro, are you fucking high or drunk or something??? _

 

_ Magnus (3:09) _

_ I heard him whispering. Just like when we were kids. _

 

Isak thought of the darkness and he thought of her. They should’ve done more. But it wasn’t real, was it? How could it be?

 

_ Isak (3:10) _

_ Stop it, Mags. We made all that shit up. _

_ Mr. Al was some stupid fucking kid’s game that got way too out of hand. _

_ He doesn’t exist. He never did. _

 

He couldn’t exist. It was impossible.

 

_ Magnus (3:11) _

_ He does. _

 

Isak stopped breathing for a moment. Why was Magnus so adamant about this. Why couldn’t he just let go?

 

_ Magnus (3:11) _

_ He’s here with me now. _

If this was a prank, then it was some seriously fucked up shit. Magnus couldn’t be with Mr. Al. He couldn’t. If he were to end up like her… god, they rarely talked but Isak still couldn’t bear to lose another one of his friends. Or, well, former friends.

_ Isak (3:12) _

_ Magnus, where the fuck are you? _

 

_ Magnus (3:12) _

_ I can hear him in the trees. _

_ I can hear him whispering. _

 

The trees had seemed louder lately, but that was just the wind. And maybe they were overgrown or something so there were more leaves, which meant more noise.

A loud tapping at his window made him jump and drop her phone onto the ground. He yelped and turned around seeing nothing but a dark shape in the windowsill. Isak stumbled back against the wall, scrambling for the light switch.

As the room lit up, Isak was able to see who it was. Magnus was just outside, his face totally expressionless, which was incredibly weird for him.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Isak asked. “Dude, it’s the middle of the fucking night. Eskild and Linn are asleep in their rooms. If you woke them up, they’d be pissed at me.”

“Isak, can I come in?” Magnus asked, ignoring Isak’s question.

“I-” Isak began, pausing. This was weird. First the texts and now this? But if Magnus was in danger, he had to help him. He couldn’t let it happen again. “I guess so.”

Isak walked over to the window and slid it open, reaching down to help his former friend climb into his bedroom.

Once he was inside, Isak stepped back and crossed his arms. “Dude, what the fuck are you doing here? We’ve barely spoken in years. If you wanted to catch up, we could have done it in daylight hours. Not with no warning at three in the fucking morning.”

“I’m sorry,” Magnus said. Isak couldn’t tell whether he meant it or not.

Isak shook his head. “You don’t need to apologize, bro. I’m just kind of confused and I want to know what’s going on. Your texts were a bit alarming.”

“It’s nothing. I’m fine,” Magnus told him. Isak wasn’t very convinced. “Come on, we need to go get the others.”

Isak raised his eyebrows. “The others?” he asked, knowing exactly who the others were. This was not something he wanted to deal with at 3 am on a school night. Or ever, for that matter.

“Our friends!” Magnus exclaimed, smiling a grin that Isak found slightly creepy. Maybe that was just how he looked. “Jonas, Mahdi, Vilde, Noora, Sana, and Chris. I need to show you something, but it’s gotta be with everyone.”

He shook his head. “Magnus, I’ve barely spoken to any of them since we were kids.” He took a deep breath. “After what happened to Eva-”

“They have to come, Isak,” Magnus said with anger in his voice.

Isak cautiously took a step back. Something seemed off about Magnus and he didn’t really want to find out what.

“Everyone has to be there,” Magnus continued. “That’s the rule.”

His phone buzzed again from where it sat on his floor, still in the same place that he had dropped it earlier. Who else could be texting him at this hour?

He reached down and picked it up as he continued to talk to Magnus. “I’m gonna be real with you, Mags. I want to help but you’re kind of freaking me out right now. Tomorrow is the first day of school. Can we talk then?”

He phone buzzed again and he looked down at the screen.

 

_ Magnus (3:22) _

_ Are you still there? I think I’m lost. _

_ Isak? My battery is almost dead. I need your help, bro. Please! _

 

Isak’s phone went clattering to the ground once again when he looked up and made eye contact with the thing in front of him. The thing was most likely was  _ not  _ Magnus.

It took a step toward him. “We have to go back to the woods, Isak.”

The lights in his room flickered and his room went cold. Isak pinched himself in an effort to wake up from whatever horrific nightmare he was having, but it did no good. This nightmare was real.

“Magnus?” he asked, voice wavering as he spoke.

Magnus or whatever was wearing his face, grinned menacingly while the shadows of the terrible trees darkened his face. His smile grew wider and wider. Too wide for proper social convention. “Isak,” he said in a sing-songy voice.

He took a step backward toward his bedroom door. Maybe if he moved fast enough, he could warm his roommates and get everyone to safety.

Isak didn’t get the chance to do that because Magnus reached over and grabbed his wrist tightly. He tried as hard as he could to pull away, but Magnus’ hand didn’t budge and, well, he was  _ Magnus _ . There was something not right about him. Something not quite human,

Not knowing what else to do, Isak pulled his fist back and then drove it forward into Magnus’ face. He didn’t even flinch.

“What the fu-” Isak began, he stopped when Magnus yanked the arm in his grasp and whipped him down against the floorboards, climbing on top of him so he couldn’t run away.

“We  _ all _ have to go back, Isak. Don’t you remember?” it asked angrily.

“Get the fuck off of me!” Isak shouted, half-hoping one of his roommates would hear him. On one hand, he needed the help but on the other, he wanted them to remain safe.

He reached up and scratched at Magnus’ face, but his skin crumbled away like dust in his fingers, revealing the bone and muscle beneath.

Magnus leaned in, smiling and he was close enough now that Isak could smell his horrible breath, which smelled like moldy dirt and blood. Kind of like the old abandoned house had smelled when-

“Everyone plays together, Isak,” it howled, voice blending with that awful howling wind.

Its skin continued to crumble away, the ashes falling down onto Isak as its raw flesh was exposed, the blood somehow managing to defy the laws of physics and now drip down. Maybe there was no blood. The features in its eyes disappeared, making them look like two ping pong balls embedded in the mound of flesh that had once been its face.

The lights began to flicker as the monster wrapped its hands around Isak’s neck and squeezed it tightly. His vision started to go blurry and it was like the shadows of the trees grew larger and larger, taking hold of his room.

He tried to gasp out something, but he couldn’t. The world around him got darker and darker until it faded to black. He was going to die on the cold fucking floor of his bedroom.

* * *

Isak woke up and screamed, instantly remembering what had happened the night before. Except, maybe it was just a dream. He was in his bed and the thing that had once been Magnus was nowhere to be seen.

“The fuck?” he muttered, absent-mindedly reaching up and rubbing his neck. Pain raced up the side of his neck as he touched his fresh bruises. It was real. Something had happened last night. Something that he didn’t understand.

He could have died. If that thing wanted him dead, he wouldn’t have been waking up that morning or ever again. Why had it spared him?

“This can’t be happening,” he muttered, reaching to grab his phone to see if he had actually received those texts the night before. It was out of battery.

“Baby gay!” called Eskild from outside his room. “Are you awake, sweet summer child?”

“Yeah,” he called back. “You can come in if you want.”

Eskild opened the door and Isak ran up to him, wrapping his arms around the older man.

“What’s up with you?” he asked. “Are you drunk? You’re only ever affectionate when you’re drunk.”

“Rough night,” Isak said, pulling back and shrugging.

Eskild gestured to his neck. “I can see that. Christ, tell me about the guy who did that to you so I can hire somebody to beat the shit out of him and also never sleep with him. That looks like it actually hurts.”

“Don’t worry about it. He skipped town,” Isak lied. “Did you hear anything weird last night?”

“Some banging maybe,” Eskild replied. “But from the looks of it, that was probably you sneaking in after your hookup. You always think you’re quiet and you always wake everyone up, I swear. It’s a good thing we love you too much to throw you out.”

He nodded. “Sorry about that. Like you said, I thought that I was being quiet. Tipsy me is an idiot.”

“It’s fine, my grumpy angel,” Eskild assuring him, ruffling his hair. “You should get ready for school. You don’t want to be late for the first day of your final year at Nissen.”

“Yeah, that would just be a tragedy,” he bit back sarcastically. There wasn’t much for him and Nissen anymore. Linn and Eskild were his friends and his family. He didn’t need a bunch of horny teenagers that got off on drama.

Eskild walked out of his room and Isak quickly got ready, taking a short shower despite his lack of time because he was terrified that he still had traces of Magnus’ flesh-dust on him.

He walked out the front door and spared a glance at the shed. There was a bunch of boxes of old shit in there from Linn’s parents before they had passed away. Maybe he could check it out later and see if there was anything useful inside. If nothing, there was plenty of storage room inside.

Isak started walking up the road that led to his school, pulling his backpack straps tightly as he passed into the part of it that cut through the woods.

He heard a noise behind him and he jumped. It was just a car. He was walking in the road. It was fine.

The car seemed decently nice, though Isak didn’t know shit about cars. It was unfamiliar, though, which was weird since he lived in the kind of town where everyone kind of knew everyone.

Isak stepped to the side of the road and caught a glimpse of the driver, who was wearing a jean jacket on top of a crisp white shirt, his wispy blond hair defying the laws of gravity atop his head. He looked somewhat familiar, but Isak wasn’t quite able to place him, probably because he was wearing sunglasses.

He stopped the car by Isak and leaned out the window, pushing up his sunglasses. He had a pair of what were probably the bluest eyes that Isak had ever seen.

“Hey, do I know you from somewhere?” the driver asked. Oh, well they probably did know one another then.

“I think so,” Isak replied. “I mean, like you look super familiar.”

He nodded toward Isak’s backpack. “Are you headed to Nissen?”

Isak nodded. “Yeah, I’m a third year.”

“Almost free from that shithole?” he asked. “Congrats, man.”

“Uh, thanks,” Isak muttered, blushing a little. That dude was hot as fuck. “See you around?”

“Probably,” the man said with a smile, making Isak’s heart flutter a bit. “This town is tiny as hell. I miss Oslo.”

He stepped on the gas and pulled away, leaving Isak standing on the street. Isak silently cursed himself for not getting the guy’s name or his number. He couldn’t quite put his finger on who the fuck that man was, but he did know that he really wanted to cross paths with him again.

He continued his walk toward school, now feeling a bit better about his walk through the woods.

* * *

Isak wasn’t exactly late to school, but Nissen was already crowded and loud when he arrived. He tried his best to avoid bumping into anyone on his way to his locker. He didn’t really have friends at Nissen since Eskild and Linn no longer went there.

He grabbed his books from his locker and rushed to biology as fast as he could, not wanting to linger around in the halls longer than he had to.

There was a seating chart projected on the board which meant that Isak was sitting in the back next to… shit. Next to Sana.

“Hey,” he greeted with a polite smile before slipping into the seat next to her.

She nodded toward him in greeting, scribbling something in her notebook in a language Isak couldn’t understand. Maybe it was Arabic or something.

“I didn’t know you were taking biology this year,” he said, a bit nervously. He didn’t know to talk to her anymore.

“I want to be a surgeon. I need science classes,” she replied, not looking up from whatever she was writing.

He nodded.

“What’s Vilde doing here?” Sana asked, somehow seeing the girl without looking up from her notebook.

Sure enough, the girl was slowly walking toward their table, nervously hugging her notebooks to her chest. There was no way she was here for biology class.

“Hey, guys!” she said, somehow nervously and sweetly at the same time.

“Hi, Vilde,” Isak replied.

“How was your summer?” Sana asked.

“Good!” Vilde chirped. “I mean I mostly stayed at home but it was still nice too, you know, like not be in classes and stuff. I’ve been thinking of planning some sort of big party since it’s our senior year and only a few are going to be russ but like I don’t know if anyone would be interested in helping.”

“Well, if it works out let me know when the party is,” he told her with his most convincing smile.

In reality, he didn’t give a fuck about her party. He wanted to graduate and get out. Maybe move to Oslo or something.

Vilde spoke again in a quieter voice. “Actually, I didn’t come in here to talk about my summer. I wanted to talk to you about something.”

He nodded for her to continue. Sana was listening intently as well.

“I got some texts last night and, well, they were quite strange,” she told them, quieting when Ingrid and Sara walked in the room, gossiping about who knew what.

“Ahh, yes, a nice reminder that summer is, in fact, over,” Sana grumbled.

Isak winced in sympathy. Sara had always been awful to her for no reason except apparent racism and because she could.

The guy that they had sat behind laughed. His name was Chris, if Isak remembered correctly and he was in their class because he failed his third year. Twice.

“Hi, Ingrid!” Vilde chirped, her voice wavering due to what appeared to be nervousness.

Ingrid looked at her and smirked. “Wow, Vilde. I see that you’ve been shopping at goodwill again. Your drunk of a mother can’t even afford H&M?”

“I was just saying hi,” she mumbled, retreating back a step.

“And I was just trying to talk to my  _ friends _ ,” Ingrid snapped.

Isak felt bad. Vilde had been friends with Ingrid once. They had come together in a time of grieving but everything fell apart with the pressures of VGS.

Sana reached forward and gripped Vilde’s wrist. “Ignore her. You were telling us something. About some weird texts? You’ll have to go to class soon.”

Vilde shook her head. “I really need to go. We can talk later?”

Sana nodded. “Definitely.”

* * *

They got their chance to speak at lunch that day. Isak usually ate alone since he didn’t like the company of his classmates very much. Sometimes Mahdi sat at the same table as him with his friend, Elias, who also happened to be Sana’s brother, but they never spoke.

It was better that way. They didn’t have much in common anymore. Isak usually stuck his headphones in as the two of them droned on and on about the drama with their basketball team. You literally couldn’t pay Isak to care about sports beyond soccer.

Today was different. Vilde, always good at spreading the word, had gotten nearly everyone together.

Chris was the first to sit at his table and shit that’s who that guy was. It was her foster brother. Even or something.

She was soon followed by Sana and Vilde and then Mahdi. Even Jonas was there, though Isak couldn’t bear to look him in the eyes.

Everyone was there other than Magnus, who nobody had seen all day, and Noora, who was probably far too busy for her former friends.

“So I’m assuming you guys got the same weird as fuck texts as I did last night?” Jonas asked, and Isak winced at the sound of his voice. “Magnus says shit like that and then doesn’t show up to school. What game is he playing?”

“He’s not playing any game. Mags wouldn’t do that,” Vilde replied. She and Magnus had dated briefly and they still talked. They were probably the only people in the group who did.

“He doesn’t have the mental capacity to fuck with us,” Mahdi joked. “He was probably just high last night and chose today to sleep it off. That sounds more like him.”

“Shouldn’t Noora be here for this?” Isak asked.

The girls at the table shared a look, but Chris was the one to answer. “She didn’t want to come. She and Eva were close and she said the was too busy to dig back into all that again.”

“So she doesn’t care that Magnus is in danger if not dead?” Isak asked. “I know they were never that close, but come the fuck on.”

Everyone was staring at him now.

“How do you know he’s in danger?” Jonas inquired. “Those texts were weird, but definitely not enough to immediately jump to that conclusion given Magnus’ reputation as a dumbass. Unless, of course, you received a different set of texts than I did.”

Isak sighed. “He showed up to my house last night. Well, not him exactly, but it looked like him. It attacked me.” He pointed to his neck.

Vilde put her face in her hands. “If Magnus was here he’d say something ignorant about you and Eskild. God, I hope he’s okay.”

“I’ll stop by his place after school,” Mahdi offered. “I don’t have basketball tonight and his mom loves me anyway.”

“What if he’s not there?” Chris asked.

“Then we come up with a new plan,” Sana said firmly. “I’ll see if there’s anything in my magic books but like you know I can’t really do any magic. At least not yet.”

“What religion are you now again?” Vilde asked. “Wicca or something?”

“I’m a Muslim who does magic,” Sana said. “What about it?”

“I-” Vilde started, but luckily she had the wisdom to shut her own mouth.

Suddenly, the lights started flickering and Isak once again heard that horrible, horrible howling wind drifting through the windows of Nissen.

“Do you hear that?” Jonas whispered.

Isak gulped.

The voice, sounding a thousand miles away and like a whisper in Isak’s ear rang out.

_ “Everyone plays together. _ ”

And then the cafeteria went black.


	2. Chapter 2

_ THEN (10 YEARS AGO) _

_ Isak chased her through the woods, crunching through the leaves that had begun to fall from the trees above. Jonas may have been their best friend, but they were close in their own way. A way that felt different from the bonds the other boy shared with either of them. _

_ “Eva, where are you going?” he called. “My mom told us not to go this far without an adult.” _

_ “She’s not here now, is she?” Eva asked. “Come on. You have to see it, Isak, and it’s only a tiny bit further. Trust me.” _

_ He shook his head and continued to chase her through the trees. Eventually, they stopped in a clearing. Eva pointed to a stone building on the other side that seemed like it was beginning to fall apart. _

_ “What is this place?” he asked. Maybe it was ancient, the remains of a small castle or something. _

_ Eva shrugged. “I don’t know, but I’m about to show you the coolest thing in the history of ever, so you better watch.” _

_ Isak nodded and Eva reached down to pick up a small stone off of the ground. She chucked it right at the open doorway, but it stopped in mid-air and fell to the ground, not a piece of it crossing past the door frame and into the house. _

_ “That’s so cool!” he exclaimed. “Eva, you found a magic house. I bet angels live here and they don’t like their house to get very messy or something.” _

_ “I think it’s weird,” she told him. “I threw like a gazillion things at it yesterday and nothing went inside.” _

_ “I wonder what’s in there,” he mumbled, taking a step toward the building. _

_ Eva ran forward and grabbed his arm to hold him back. “We can’t go inside!” she exclaimed. “If it won’t let pebbles in there, what do you think it’s gonna do to a couple of kids?!” _

_ “It looks deserted,” he replied. “Nobody could live in a house like that. There’s holes in the roof. I’m sure that we’ll be fine.” _

_ “You could be wrong,” she pointed out. “Besides, what if your mom comes out here and sees us. She’d ground you for 20 years and then she’d call my mom who’d ground me for 20 more!” Her voice lowered. “And what if something bad happens?” _

_ Eva took a shaky breath and took another small step back from the house, which Isak thought was kind of stupid. It had been her idea to come here in the first place. _

_ Isak sighed. He thought she was being a bit ridiculous, but he was her friend and didn’t want her to be scared. “Do you have your present with you?” he asked. “The one I gave you for your birthday?” _

_ She nodded, gaze not breaking away from the house, and pulled a whistle on a chain from the inside of her shirt. Isak hadn’t realized she wore it around her neck at all times, keeping it close to her heart. _

_ He nodded. “What did I promise you when I gave it to you?” _

_ “That I can blow it if I’m scared and you’ll come and help me,” she whimpered. “I said I could take care of myself. Maybe I was wrong.” _

_ “You weren’t wrong,” he replied. “You’re like the toughest kid I know, including Jonas. Sometimes you still need help from your friends and I promise I’ll be there for you. I know Jonas would be too if he wasn’t on vacation right now.” _

_ Something in the trees howled, drawing Isak closer to the house. There was something about the air of it. Something important. _

_ He broke his gaze away from the ruins. Maybe Eva was right. Maybe they should turn back. They weren’t even supposed to be out here anyway. “But, if you want, we can turn around,” he mumbled. _

_ Eva shook her head and puffed out her chest. “I’m not scared. You’ve got my back and I have yours.” _

_ “I’ll go first,” he said. Pappa said boys were supposed to be strong and tough. Isak thought Eva was just as strong and tough, but he thought he’d go first. _

_ Isak walked up to the doorway on shaky knees. He reached in past the bounds of the doorway and a tingling feeling travelled up his arm and down his spine, drawing him closer and closer. _

_ “Do you feel anything?” Eva asked from right behind him, causing him to nearly jump. _

_ “It’s tingly?” he tried, moving to step forward. The tingling consumed his whole body and then stopped. He must have made it through the barrier. _

_ It was pitch black. Even the light from outside seemed to have faded away upon entering the ruined house. He knew that, logically, he was alone, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was someone- or something- in the house with him. Whatever it was, it was watching him. _

_ “Hello?” he called out in a trembling voice. _

_ His words were echoed back at him, but it didn’t sound the same, as if the stone walls had wrinkled it up and attempted to straighten it out before tossing it back at him. _

_ “Is someone there?” he asked. “Do you have a name?” _

_ No reply, just the same eery echo of what he had said. _

_ Then the leaves at his feet blew to either side. Something had done that. He just didn’t know what. Slowly, a word carved itself into the stone below him. “ALENE”. Alone. _

_ “I’m going to call you Mr. Al,” he announced. “Alene doesn’t seem right. After all, I’m here now. My name is Isak.” _

_ “Isak?” the voice called back. Isak began to realize it was not his own echo, but Mr. Al’s way of speaking. Kind of like that Greek myth he had read in class. _

_ His eyes had been able to adjust to the darkness over time. He saw a crumbling staircase in the corner, which tumbled town into a jagged hole in the floor of the house. Isak wondered what was down there. _

_ “Isak?” Eva called. “Who are you talking to? Is it safe to come in?” _

_ He approached the hole and looked down. “Wait, Eva I think-” _

_ Wind burst from the hole and knocked him flat onto his back. He yelped in fear, but the wind changed, sucking him closer and closer to the hole in the ground. He grabbed a crack in the floor to keep himself from getting sucked inside, but the wind was strong. _

_ “Isak?” Eva called from outside. _

_ In a desire to help his friend, he called back, “Eva, run! Get help!” _

_ She turned to do so but the wind caught hold of her too and sucked her through the open doorway and toward Isak. She grabbed onto the edge of the floorboard but the wind kept sucking her down. He heard the snap of a cord as her whistle fell into the abyss. _

_ “I can’t hold on,” she cried. “I’m gonna fall!” _

_ Isak clenched his free fist in anger. He had been nothing but nice to Mr. Al and this is how he was repaid. _

_ “Mr. Al!” he called. “Stop it right now or else me and Eva’s friends are gonna come and burn your whole stupid house down.” _

_ The wind stopped and the house became eerily silent, leaving only the sound of Eva sobbing from where she had hauled herself back onto the main floor. _

_ “We need to go,” he told her. _

_ “It took my whistle,” she whimpered. _

_ “I know,” he replied, “but it didn’t take us. We need to go before that changes.” _

_ He pulled her to her feet and the rushed out of the house arm in arm, leaning on one another for support. _

_ As they exited the clearing, Isak couldn’t help but glance back once more. The house seemed completely lifeless but somewhere, lurking in, there was something dark inside. _

_ And then, as they crossed into the woods, Isak heard something from back by the house. _

_ A whistle. _

* * *

After lunch, Isak had history but his mind was on anything but the textbook in front of him. His teacher lectured about who knows what, but he couldn’t concentrate on a thing.

“The witch trials of Vardø took place over a tragic winter,” the teacher said emotionlessly. “The body count was high, with eighteen burned at the stake and two tortured to death.”

Christ, who the fuck cared. Isak was planning on studying biophysics after he finished at Nissen. He wasn’t going to need to know anything about any fucking witch trials.

Noora was in this class with him and she kept sneaking glances back as if she hadn’t blown the group off earlier. Though, he supposed she was sitting somewhere in that cafeteria too. And she had been very close to Eva before- just before.

Perhaps Noora actually was too busy for them. Maybe she was just busy because if she ever stopped moving, the truth would catch up with her. After all, Eva was her first friend in town and by far her closest friend.

“Isak?” called the teacher.

“What?” he asked. Crap, he hadn’t been paying attention.

“Answer my question, please,” she said, clicking her heel on the ground and crossing her arms.

Noora looked back at him and smiled, putting out her palm below her desk. On it, four numbers were written: 1662.

“1662?” he said, more like a question than a statement.

The teacher blinked in surprise. “Very good, Isak. The trials started in 1662 and lasted that winter, through the beginning of 1663.”

The bell rang and Isak burst out of his seat to speak with Noora, but the teacher beat him there, calling her over to his desk.

Isak went outside to give them some privacy. He could talk to her after they were done speaking. He knew Noora had a lot going on.

He walked out into the hallway and leaned against a wall, pulling out his phone. He had only a few texts, all from his flat group chat. Eskild was trying to convince them to go into the city that weekend. He sent a text to tell him that he had stuff to take care of here and to tell Linn to go with since she could use a weekend out.

The halls slowly emptied and parts of the conversation inside drifted into earshot. It sounded serious, so Isak put his headphones in and turned his music up. Even if he wasn’t that close to Noora anymore, he respected her privacy.

He closed his eyes and bopped along to the music, but was quickly interrupted when two hands grabbed him, one flying over his eyes so he couldn’t see a thing.

This was it. He was going to die. It was probably fake Magnus or some other monster. Isak tried to scramble out of his captor’s grasp but found himself shoved into a closet, which was promptly locked from the outside.

“Let me out!” he screamed. “What the fuck? Let me go!”

There was muffled laughter on the other side, that of a girl and of a guy.

“We thought that you’d like to be gay in peace,” called back one of them. It was fucking Christoffer Schistad. Of course. The guy drunkenly made out with dudes at the occasional party but god forbid he not take out his internalized homophobia or biphobia or whatever on somebody else.

The girl kept laughing her obnoxious laugh, which meant it had to be Sara. She and him had dated once and even got along afterward but since he called her out on talking shit about the people she called her friends, she had found great amusement in his torment.

“Fuck you,” he called back. “Stop being bitter that I’m going to uni and you’re going to be stuck in this dumb fucking town forever.”

“I hope you’re comfortable since we won’t be back until tomorrow,” Chris said as Sara laughed her obnoxious laugh.

“Bye, Isak,” Sara giggled and he heard the two of them make their way down the hall.

Isak just rolled his eyes and pulled his phone out of his pocket, dialing Eskild’s number. It rang a few times, but no answer. He tried Linn and got the same. Fantastic. He was going to have to wait it out.

“Isak,” taunted a voice from the other side.

“No more of this. You’ve had your fun,” he grumbled. “Let me out, Chris.”

“More fun,” the voice repeated and Isak’s blood went cold. That wasn’t Chris.

“I’m not scared,” Isak mumbled, more to himself than anything as he crowded into a corner of the closet, sliding down the wall and closing his eyes tight.

_ “ _ I’m not scared!” he heard a familiar voice call. Isak opened his eyes only to find himself back at the house, as he was years ago.

He turned to find Eva stomping her foot on the ground, just as she had been 10 years prior, though he didn’t know how she would have changed since, seeing as she hadn’t really had the chance to.

“Eva, let’s get out of here,” he suggested.

The woods went dark and tendrils of shadow began creeping through the doorway.

“You’ll keep me safe, right Isak?” she asked. “You’ll protect me, just like you promised? And never let anything bad happen to me?”

“Eva, I-” he started, but fell silent. He didn’t know what to say to her. He didn’t know what he  _ could  _ say to her.

The shadow crept forward until it reached Eva, snatching her by the ankles and pulling her inside. She didn’t scream, but Isak could see the silent mix of fear and disappointment in her eyes.

It stopped when she was halfway through the doorway, only her face visible.

“You promised, Isak,” she said quietly and the darkness pulled her the rest of the way inside.

The darkness crept outside again and Isak turned to run, but it was too fast, overtaking him in an instant until everything was a deep, dark black.

“I’m sorry,” he sobbed quietly. “I didn’t mean to-”

Light overtook him as the closet door whipped open, revealing Noora, a concerned expression on her face.

She held out a hand to him and helped him to stand up on shaky knees. “Careful,” she said softly.

“How did you get it open?” he asked.

Noora held up a set of keys. “You’ve unlocked my deep dark secret. I’m in cahoots with administration.”

He managed a small laugh.

“No, I guess it’s one of the perks of being in charge of Student Leaders,” she told him. “I have keys to storage closets as well as a few classrooms that we use.”

“Well, thank you, my savior,” he said with a smile.

“Of course,” she replied. She glanced down at the watch on her wrist and sighed. “There really aren’t enough hours in the day, are there?”

Isak thought that 24 hours were more than enough, but he chose not to say anything in response.

“I can walk you to the office if you want to report this,” Noora offered.

“I’m fine, but I actually would like to speak with you for a moment,” he said.

“Let’s walk and talk,” she suggested and they started down the hall.

“It’s about lunch today,” he told her, even though that was probably quite obvious. What else could they be speaking about?

“I filed a report with maintenance about the power outage,” she informed him. “It was a bit odd, but it won’t happen again. No worries.”

He rolled his eyes. “Is maintenance going to take care of the voice too?”

Noora stopped and went white. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Isak”

“If you didn’t then you wouldn’t have frozen up just now,” he pointed up. “Look, I know we aren’t close anymore, but if you need support you still have me and everybody else.”

“Not everybody,” Noora said, looking down at the ground rather than meet his eyes.

“You can slow down for a second to talk about stuff,” he said softly, setting a hand on her shoulder. He was never good at the whole support thing but he could certainly try.

“I can’t slow down, don’t you see that,” she replied. “I need to get the best grades so I can go to the best school and study journalism so I can get a great job that’s as far from this terrible town as possible. I tried to get out once, but I couldn’t sustain myself so now I’m back here until I can leave for good and the past can finally be put to rest for me.”

She was pulling at her hair now and there was a mad look in her eyes. Noora was another victim of grief, just as he and his friends had been. Why were they all too stubborn to work through it together?

“Just two minutes,” he requested. “Take a deep breath and let me talk to you, please.”

“Two minutes,” she agreed, a bit breathlessly and, to make it clear that she was going to give only two minutes, she checked the time on her watch.

“You heard it, didn’t you?” he asked.

“I don’t want it getting out that I’m hearing voices. It would reflect badly,” she mumbled. “But I guess I may have heard something.”

“Well, if you decided you did, then the rest of us are meeting in the courtyard tonight around 18,” he told her. “I think it would be good if you showed up.”

“I’ll be there,” she promised, before glancing at her watch again and taking off down the hallway.

He sincerely hoped that would be the truth but, then again, Noora wasn’t really one to lose track of time.

* * *

When Isak arrived at the fountain, Jonas, Vilde, Noora, Chris, and Mahdi were already standing there, all looking various different levels of anxious.

“How is it this dark so early?” Mahdi remarked. Nobody replied.

“Where’s Sana?” Chris asked.

“Right here,” she replied, seemingly annoyed even though she had evidently just shown up as well. Isak supposed everyone was a bit on edge.

“Well we all know why we’re here,” he announced, getting the meeting going. “We all heard it.”

“Everyone plays together,” Jonas repeated with a sigh.

“And the texts,” Mahdi added. “Shouldn’t we be focused on Magnus right now. He was our friend once, you know.”

“And with what Isak saw,” Chris said, shivering. “I guess it’s happening. Mr. Al is back.”

“We could call the police?” Vilde suggested.

“The cops would never believe us,” Sana replied quickly, shutting her down. “We’re a bunch of dumb teenagers who suffered trauma. They’d tell us we’re delusional.”

“Also what the hell would they do about it anyway,” Jonas pointed out. “You can’t arrest a shadow, can you?”

“I get it,” Mahdi said, crossing his arms.

“Do you think he’s religious?” Jonas continued. “Would he swear on the Bible or the Quran or like something else?”

“I said  _ I get it _ ,” Mahdi said through his teeth.

“Leave him alone,” Noora said.

“I can fight my own battles,” Mahdi snapped. “I’ve been doing it since I came out and I can do it now.”

“Mahdi, I know,” she said. “I was just trying to help.”

He crossed his arms and looked away. Isak longed for the time when they were all still friends, though he supposed there was no way the group could have felt the same after everything had happened.

“Back to business,” Sana interrupted. “Magnus’ parents reported him missing this morning. My mom told me when she strictly forbid me from leaving the house. Luckily, she had the night shift tonight.”

“We have to go in there,” Isak said. “We have to find him.”

Chris frowned. “I don’t think we’re equipt to help him. We’re just a bunch of teenagers after all. Maybe if we told our parents-”

“It has to be us,” he insisted, remembering the words that had been echoing in his head since the night before. Everyone plays together. “We can’t keep lying to ourselves. What happened? It happened. And now, on some level, it’s back. We need to help Magnus before it happens again.”

Vilde glanced in the direction of the forest. “I don’t think I can go back there again.”

“I know you’re scared, Vilde,” Jonas said, expression softening. “But Magnus needs us. You were closest to him after what happened. What’s scarier: walking back into the woods or losing him?”

She sniffled. “Losing him.”

“And what is running around in the forest gonna do?” Andy asked. “Magnus was my bro once, but I hardly think walking straight into the belly of the beast is going to do anything but get us hurt too.”

A few of the others murmured agreement and Isak couldn’t help but see his point. Nobody really knew anything about this worked. If more of them got hurt, then what was the point.

“So this is how it’s gonna be?” Jonas snapped nastily. “You turned a blind eye on my best friend when she fucking  _ died  _ and now you’re going to do the same to Magnus? You want him to die too?”

“Jonas,” Mahdi tried, putting a hand on his forearm.

Jonas pushed it off. “Mr. Al killed Eva. You all saw it happen. It sucked her into black nothingness and sealed it up behind her. You all walk around every damn day like it never happened, but it did. If it happens again, you have nobody to blame but yourselves.”

Sana crossed her arms. “People deal with trauma differently. You don’t know me or how I’ve been dealing with it.”

“Please,” he scoffed. “as soon as her gravestone went up all of you continued on like it didn’t happen and I know for a fact you’ll do it again if we don’t help Magnus.”

“So now you care about Magnus?” Vilde asked. “Where were you when he was having nightmares and panic attacks? Oh wait, I was the only one who was there for him, so you wouldn’t know.”

Mahdi frowned. “If he was having problems, he could have come to me.”

“He didn’t want to be a bother,” she said, frowning. “Not when you guys were so distant.”

Vilde shook her head and stormed away. Chris chased after her.

“And I’m guessing you’re too busy for all of this?” Jonas asked. “You’re too busy for your friends? Or are you just going to run away again like you did last time when you skipped Eva’s funeral.”

“I cared about Eva just as much as you did. Just because I didn’t deal with it by becoming an angry shell of a human being doesn’t mean I didn’t suffer,” she snapped before strutting toward the parking lot.

“This isn’t just gonna magically stop!” he shouted, loud enough so Noora could here. She didn’t even turn.

“I guess it’s just us,” Isak sighed.

“I’m in,” Sana said. “If the supernatural is out there, we should explore it and try to understand as much as we can.”

“I’m in too,” Mahdi said with a nod. “He was my friend. I wasn’t there when he was hurting, but I can be there now.”

“Tonight?” Jonas asked.

Isak gulped and nodded. “Meet by the hardware store in an hour to get supplies. Then we go get him.”

They were going to go save Magnus.


	3. Chapter 3

_ THEN (10 YEARS AGO) _

 

_ Isak and Eva approached the house, all of their friends in tow. _

_ “See!” he told them. “Just like we said. It’s right here!” _

_ Magnus’ jaw dropped. “Holy crud.” _

_ Vilde frowned and crossed her arms. “You can’t say that, Magnus. If you use a word to replace a naughty one, it’s just as bad.” _

_ “You guys were for real?” Mahdi asked with wide eyes. _

_ Eva crossed her arms. “Of course we were for real. I’m not a liar and neither is Isak.” _

_ Sana pointed a finger toward the house. “Is that where the monster grabbed you?” _

_ “Right by the door,” Eva told them. _

_ “That’s badass!” Jonas exclaimed, earning an angry glare from Vilde. _

_ Chris, who had been wandering around the area, wrinkled her nose. “There’s a dead bird over here. Gross.” _

_ “That’s creepy,” Vilde said with a shiver. “Maybe we should go back. I’m getting the heebie jeebies over here. Especially after what happened to your whistle.” _

_ “No way!” Mahdi exclaimed. “I think we should go in there and kick some serious monster butt. Nobody hurts my friends and gets away with it!” _

_ “I don’t know if it’s safe,” Isak told them. “It was a close call last time. I don’t want anyone to get hurt like for real.” _

_ “Chris, maybe you can get Even to come out and record it,” suggested Mahdi. “We could turn into famous ghost catchers!” _

_ “Even would just tell my moms,” she said wrinkling her nose. “And then he’d call his dumb friends and investigate without us. Let’s just go back. It’s creepy out here.” _

_ Vilde sidled next to her. “If Chris is going back, then I’m going back too!” _

_ “But what if we don’t go and we miss something super cool?” asked Sana. “We’re gonna regret it like till the end of time if we don’t at least look. We can go back if it’s too scary.” _

_ Jonas and Mahdi offered their support while the others remained skeptical or afraid. Their arguing was interrupted by a loud whistling sound. _

_ “It’s my whistle!” Eva exclaimed before crossing her arms. “I think Mr. Al is making fun of us in there.” _

_ The whistle sounded off again, clearly coming from inside the house. _

_ “That’s it. We can’t go in,” Magnus said firmly. Magnus was rarely serious, so when he was, they were forced to listen. _

_ “Why?” Eva asked. She wanted to go back in there, though Isak didn’t know why. She had almost gotten hurt last time. _

_ “Because it’s a trap. Duh!” Magnus replied. “Sometimes when I sleep over with my cousins we watch scary movies and the creepy monsters always try to trick the people into going in. Then the people get hurted!” _

_ Chris nodded. “For once, Magnus is actually right. My moms would be super mad if I got hurt.” _

_ Sana frowned. “You’re probably right. Maybe if I tell my big brothers, then they can come help us check it out some other time since they’re big and tough.” _

_ “Sorry, Eva,” Jonas said. “Maybe a different time, just like Sana said.” _

_ Eva balled up her fists and stomped her foot. Isak thought she was too big to be throwing fits, but his Mamma had said that the reason she probably got so upset is because her pappa lived far away and didn’t love her mamma. _

_ In the background, the whistle just got louder and louder, fueling her temper even further. _

_ She turned toward the house. “Screw you, Mr. Al. You’re a dumb, mean jerkface.” _

_ Vilde audibly gasped. _

_ Then, something came flying out of the house, landing directly in Eva’s hands. It was her whistle. He had given it back. _

_ Mahdi turned to him with wide eyes. “Should we stay?” _

_ “Stay,” Mr. Al howled from inside the house. _

_ “I think he’s sorry,” Sana muttered. _

_ “Sorry,” he repeated. _

_ “If he’s a monster, then why would he apologize?” Noora asked. “Maybe we should go check it out. It can’t be so bad.” _

_ “Should we speak to it?” Mahdi asked. _

_ “Speak,” he echoed. _

_ Isak walked forward with shaky hands. “Why did you take me and my friend?” _

_ “Sorry,” it said again. “Friend. Alone.” _

_ Vilde frowned sympathetically. “It sounds like he’s sad.” _

_ “I don’t know,” Chris mumbled. “It still feels like it could be a trap to me. I don’t think-” _

_ She stopped as a gust of wind blew orange and golden leaves through the clearing and toward where the group of friends was standing. _

_ “Holy-” Noora said, stopping for Vilde’s save and pointing toward where the dead bird was. “Look!” _

_ A couple of slender vines slithered across the ground like a pair of snakes and wrapped around the bird tightly and then releasing it. The bird flew away like it never had been dead in the first place, other than its eyes being a bright shade of amber rather than the deep black they had been before. _

_ “Zombie bird?” Mahdi asked with wide eyes. _

_ “Mr. Al brought it back to life!” Eva exclaimed. _

_ Vilde looked at it uneasily. “But its eyes. It doesn’t look the same as it probably did before.” _

_ “Vilde, he saved it!” Magnus said. “Just ‘cause it looks a teeny bit different, doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good thing.” _

_ “Maybe Isak and Eva should decide since they were the ones to get snatched last time,” Noora suggested. The others looked at them expectantly. _

_ “We’re going,” Eva said firmly. _

_ Isak shook his head. “I think we should wait and come back tomorrow. It’s already getting late.” _

_ “Tomorrow sounds good,” Jonas said, nodding his head. _

_ “Let’s make a deal, though,” Noora said. “Nobody visits Mr. Al alone. We’re a team and we gotta keep each other safe.” _

_ “Yeah,” Isak agreed. “Everyone plays together.” _

_ They all crowded in a circle and put their hands together in a center to seal their promise. From that day and forever on, they would be a team. _

* * *

When Isak walked up to the hardware store, Jonas, Mahdi, and Sana were already standing there and the girl was on her phone.

“Yeah, Pappa. I’m studying with Isak,” she said. “We have a biology pre-test on Friday for extra credit. No, I won’t make it home for dinner, but I’ll be back as soon as we get through the material. Bye. Love you.”

“We have a pre-test?” Isak asked in a panic after she hung up. He didn’t remember that from class but, then again, he hadn’t been very focused.

“No, I was convincing my dad to let me stay out late,” she replied with a snort. “You know our teacher doesn’t believe in extra credit.”

“Oh good,” he said with a sigh of relief.

“Can we go get some gear now?” Jonas asked. He seemed eager to get going.

Isak nodded and headed into the store, the three others flanking behind him.

“Yeah, god forbid we face a supernatural creature without a wrench,” Mahdi added with a smirk.

Jonas just glared at him. Isak longed for the day where he could take a simple joke, but he had been different since losing Eva.

When they got inside, the others scattered to search for tools, but Isak headed for the register, as he saw a familiar face. It was the boy from before school.

“You work here?” he asked.

“No, I killed the cashier because I enjoy the texture of the cash register’s smooth keys,” he replied, deadpan.

“Please tell me that you’re joking,” Isak said. After recent events, he wouldn’t be surprised if the cute boy was a murderer.

He laughed. “I’m joking, Isak. Sorry I didn’t recognize you earlier, I was kind of out of it this morning. How have you been?”

Isak shrugged. “Can’t complain,” he lied. “You’re Even, right? Chris’ foster brother?”

“Good memory,” he said with a smile.

“So you’re back?” he asked. “I thought you moved to Oslo after graduation. The big city life too fast for you?”

“Bad breakup,” he explained. “I didn’t have a lot going for me there so I had to come back home. I felt bad taking Kjersti’s money when I wasn’t home to help out, especially after everything she’s done for me since taking me in.”

Isak nodded in understanding, thinking of how grateful he was for Eskild taking him in when he had nowhere else to go.

“Are you happy to be here?” Isak asked.

“I mean, it was never my dream to come back to this tiny town but,” he looked Isak up and down. “Maybe there’s more good to it than I remember.”

Isak’s cheeks flushed red. Even was cute. Like, really cute. Isak had planned on waiting until uni to find romance, but maybe it was closer than he thought that it would be.

Even smiled and gestured around the store. “So what can I get for you today on this lovely evening?”

“Uhh-” he mumbled glancing around the store until his eyes caught something hanging on the wall behind the desk. “That pole saw looks promising?”

He raised an eyebrow and grabbed it off the wall, handing it over to Isak. “Have some trees that need pruning?”

“Yeah, something like that,” he mumbled, staring at the weapon in awe. Well, it was a tool, he supposed, but it certainly could be weaponized.

“I can get that to you in a few days,” Even offered. “That’s just the display model. We sold the rest this week. For some reason, it seems like the trees are growing faster than usual or something.”

Isak sighed and handed it back to him. “In that case, I think I’ll pass. I really need to deal with these trees now.”

He wandered toward where Jonas was standing, looking defeated in the tape aisle. “Find anything?”

Jonas sighed. “None of this shit will do us any good.”

“How are you so calm in the face of this thing?” Isak asked. “Sure, you get angry and shit, but it’s like you aren’t even scared.”

“I’m not calm,” he replied. “I just know what has to be done. For Magnus and for Eva and for us. Face it, Isak, we’re all gigantic messes. We need the closure. We have to know.”

Memories of running around the woods with Eva filled his mind.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “We do need the closure. All of us.”

Mahdi burst into the aisle with Sana close behind, an amused look on her face. There was a bat and a bunch of barbed wire in his hands.

“Yo, Isak!” he called, a little out of breath. “Have you ever seen  _ The Walking Dead _ ?”

Isak shook his head.

“Doesn’t matter,” he said waving him off. “What does matter is this would make a fucking killer weapon.”

He made a show of wrapping the barbed wire around the bat and he was right, that would be a fucking killer weapon.

“It might be a bit cheesy, but I think it’ll do the job,” Sana laughed.

He walked to the front of the store and set the bat and barbed wire on the counter.

Even raised his eyebrows. “Is there a zombie invasion that I don’t know about?”

“It’s part of my Halloween costume,” Mahdi butted in. “I don’t cheap out on the spookiest holiday of the year.”

“It’s September,” Even pointed out.

Mahdi shook his head. “Sorry, dude, if you can’t take Halloween seriously and prepare early, then you aren’t doing it right.”

“Fair enough,” Even said with a smile.

He rung them up and they left the store, finally daring to enter into the dark forest. It was scary but, at the same time, he couldn’t help but be a bit nostalgic for all the fun they had in there as children.

“New year, same old creepiness,” Jonas murmured.

“I don’t know,” Isak mumbled. “I know this sounds fucked up, but in a weird way it kind of feels like home.”

After all, the home he had lived in as a child wasn’t exactly stable. His dad left his mentally ill mother when she was at her worst and his older sister fled to fucking Germany not a year later. With no stability at home, he turned to his friends and, by extension, their favorite meeting place: the woods.

A familiar whistling sound blew through the trees and Isak couldn’t help but instinctively step toward it, though he didn’t know where it would lead him.

Jonas caught his arm. “Isak, where are you going?”

“You don’t hear it?” he asked. “We need to go check it out. It’s probably related to whatever happened to Magnus.”

He kept following it and stopped at a tree with dark, twisted roots. Hanging from the lowest branch was Eva’s whistle. He snatched it and staggered back, staring in disbelief at the object in his hand.

Jonas appeared at his side with wide eyes. “It can’t be-”

“If the whistle is back maybe-” Sana began, but cut herself off.

_ Maybe Eva could come back too _ , Isak’s brain finished.

A rustling in the brush behind the sent them all spinning around.

“What’s that?” Mahdi asked.

“Be ready,” Isak advised. “Something’s coming.”

Mahdi’s hands tightened around the bat-barbed wire monstrosity that they had pieced together on the way from the hardware store.

Isak felt something on his shoulder and yelped, but found that it was only Jonas’ hand. 

“Don’t move,” he hissed.

Slowly, Isak turned his head, following Jonas’ gaze and eventually seeing a creature, no, a monster. Kind of like a wolf, but made up of a mixture of vines, dirt, sod, and what looked like actual animal bones.

It growled and Isak stepped back. “That’s-”

“A walking skeleton,” Sana said, backing up beside him.

“What the fuck?!” Mahdi yelled, raising the bat a little. “I didn’t sign up for this shit. The dirt monsters were bad enough. What the fuck is this thing?”

“Run!” Isak exclaimed, taking off through the woods. The creature lunged after them as they made their way through the twisting trees.

He only stopped when he saw another monster in front of him. There was another path to their right but that led to the house, which was probably where the creatures wanted to lure them.

“On my signal, we go left, through the trees,” Isak hissed. “Worse comes to worse, we get poison ivy. At least we’ll be alive.”

The others nodded and after a second, Isak nodded and they all sprinted into the brush. The creatures lunged after them. It was only a matter of time until they caught up.

They didn’t stop until they were in a clearing. Isak sat on a stump in the middle of it, gasping for breath.

“We can’t stop,” Mahdi panted. “Sure, the creatures are gone now, but it’s only a matter of time until they find us again.”

“We have to get to Magnus as soon as possible,” Jonas said. “They could be after him too, wherever the hell he is.”

Sana gasped. “I think I found him.”

They turned to see one of the creatures with Magnus’ leg in its bloody jaws, dragging him into the clearing. He wasn’t conscious, but Isak could see the slight up and down movements of his chest. At least he was alive.

“Shit,” Mahdi mumbled. “What do we do.”

It growled and Isak heard more growling coming from all ends of the clearing. They were trapped. The finally had a chance at saving Magnus, and there was no way out.

“We can’t let them take Magnus,” Isak told them.

Mahdi’s hand tightened around the bat. “It’s been a while since I quit softball, but I think I can still take a few of these things out.”

“When I’m in medical school, this all better be worth it,” Sana said with a sigh, pulling a long knife out of her boot.

“Why are you armed?!” Jonas exclaimed.

“We are in a fight, Jonas!” she pointed out.

“Hang on, Magnus!” Isak yelled and they launched themselves at the monsters, fighting tooth and nail. 

Isak launched his foot at one’s head, which one succeeded at pissing it off, as it was on him in a moment, teeth napping at his face.

He struggled to push it off but, for something without any muscle, the monster was pretty fucking strong.

“Fuck,” Isak cried, hoping that his companions were faring better.

“Take that, bitch!” he heard Mahdi shout before the monster flew off of him with a cracking sound, Mahdi’s bat driving it across the clearing.

He held out a hand and helped him up. “C’mon. We have to keep fighting. I’ll focus on the monsters, you get Magnus.”

Isak nodded and rushed toward where his former friend was in the teeth of a particularly mean-looking beast.

“Get away from him,” Isak shouted.

The monster snarling and began to move backward, dragging Magnus back into the cover of the trees.

Isak dove forward to grab Magnus’ wrists, pulling him back from the creature. It turned into some fucked up game of tug of war, Magnus’ limp body stretching between them.

Sana jumped on the beast from behind, jamming her knife into its glowing eyes. The creature yelped in pain and opened its jaw, sending Isak tumbling, Magnus’ body falling on top of him.

He wobbled to his feet, attempting to hold Magnus up. Around them, the creature retreated, so Isak gently set him on the ground and lightly tapped his face.

“Bro, you have to wake up,” he said softly. “We can’t carry you back. Wake up.”

“Speak for yourself,” Mahdi scoffed. “Between the four of us, we can figure it out. He needs to get to a hospital.”

“Magnus,” Isak repeated, more sternly this time.

The boy’s eyelids twitched and then snapped open in fear. “He’s here. Why did you come? He’s here.”

“We had to help you, dude,” Mahdi replied.

Magnus shook his head and looked between them fearfully. “Now he can leave.”

* * *

When Isak got to school the next day, he quickly found himself with an armful of Vilde. “You saved him,” her muffled voice said from where it was buried in his shoulder. “You saved my best friend.”

“It was all four of us,” he told her. “Me, Mahdi, Sana, and Jonas.”

She pulled away. “Oh, I know. I’ve given each of them matching hugs, though Jonas was quick to push me off and grumble about me not helping.”

“How’s he doing?” Isak asked.

She shrugged. “As good as he can be after everything, I guess. They’re keeping him tonight for observation and then sending him home tomorrow.”

“And what do the police think?” Isak asked.

“Tragic bear attack,” Noora said as she approached the two of them. “He was lucky to escape practically unscathed. I’m due to make an announcement about it in fifteen minutes.”

“It wasn’t a bear,” Isak told her.

“I know that,” she said with a wink.

“You got my text right?” Isak asked. “About what he said?”

“Isak,” Vilde said softly. “Magnus was out of it when he said that to you. He was delirious. Last night he told me he didn’t remember anything.”

“He still said it,” Isak pointed out.

“Yeah, but maybe we should leave it be,” Noora said. “Messing around in the woods got us into this in the first place. Things have settled since last night. We might just be in the clear.”

Isak nodded. “That’s a fair point. If anyone else gets hurt because we mess with this shit again, I don’t know I’d cope.”

“Well, I hope you all have a lovely third year,” Noora told them. “I have things to do.”

And that was something Isak fully intended to do. No more monsters. Just fun, beer, and graduating. Maybe this time he would even have some friends by his side, for the first time in years.


End file.
